Jay Co. ousted in 2OT

The Patriots were just seconds away from an enormous sectional win in regulation. And then they were also just a hoop away from finishing the game in a heart-pounding overtime.

Unfortunately for them, it was Laura Friday's night.

In a game postponed from Tuesday, Friday hit a game-tying 3-pointer for the Marion Giants with four seconds left in the fourth quarter. Both teams missed-game ending opportunities at the end of the first overtime, and Marion scored the first five points of double overtime.

Then Friday came up big again, hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute of the second overtime as host Jay County's season came to an end with a 58-53 defeat in the opening round of the girls basketball sectional tournament.

"We had the game right in our hands," said JCHS Luke Cummings. "She hit a big shot there to tie the game. ... She's an awfully good player."

Trailing by eight after shooting just 33 percent in the first half, the Patriots (16-7) pulled even by the end of the third quarter and took a 3-point lead with a 6-0 run late in the fourth. They had a chance to push the advantage to four, but were called for a lane violation before junior forward Mariah Hornaday could attempt the second of her two free throws with 16.6 seconds left.

Friday took advantage of the opportunity, turning what looked like a broken play into a game-tying 3-pointer with just four seconds remaining.

"That's Friday all year for us," said Marion coach Jerry Freshwater of the sophomore. "She's not afraid to take that big shot. That's good for her, because her shot has been off lately.

"It was a great game. That's what girls basketball is all about. ... I was just happy that we came out ahead tonight."

Jay County's Pazia Speed couldn't quite get another shot off before the end of regulation, and then she and Katrina Blackmon of the Giants (16-5) each had chances at the end of the first overtime.

Speed tried to drive the left side of the lane, but was tied up for a jump ball that went in Marion's favor. Blackmon the drove the length of the court in the final 4.7 seconds only to have her shot rim out at the buzzer.

"We wanted Pazia to go and attack with it in her hands," said Cummings of the play. "I liked the look that we got there. Unfortunately we got a jump ball."

Blackmon assisted to Dani Gilmer on the first basket of the second overtime, and then scored on a put-back to extend her team's lead to 52-48 with 2:17 to go. Jay County got within two points when Speed buried a 3-pointer with 1:01 to go, but Friday hit her foul shots down the stretch to seal the game for the Giants.

Gilmer shared the game-high of 19 points to lead Marion, and she also grabbed seven rebounds. Friday scored 17 points, and Shayna Wood added 12 points and six rebounds.

Blackmon, the team's leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, was limited to seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, but had seven assists and five boards.

"We went inside-outside instead of going outside and shooting threes," said Freshwater. "That helps us when we have post players like Dani and Shayna Wood ... And then we have Blackmon who can slice the middle a little bit on the zone ...

"(Blackmon) was real big for us. She'll do whatever it takes. She scores a lot, but she does a lot of other things that help us."

Jay County struggled in the first half, but hit seven of its eight third-quarter field-goal attempts as it outscored the Giants 17-9. It trailed 40-37 with four minutes to play before getting a three-point play from Hornaday, a put-back by Danielle Link and the free throw from Hornaday with 16.6 seconds to go.

Speed scored 18 of her 19 points in the second half and two overtimes despite spending more than five minutes on the bench after picking up her fourth personal foul with 1:09 on the clock in the third quarter. She shot 6-of-8 after the intermission and had six rebounds and three assists.

Hornaday, who scored all of the Patriots' first-quarter points, finished with 12 to go along with nine rebounds. Link had eight points and seven boards, Maria Murphy grabbed eight rebounds and Kassi Hemmelgarn dished out five assists.

"To see them fight back the way they did tonight after not shooting the ball very well in the first half and having a lot of things go wrong ... to keep battling like they did, you can't be more proud of them," said Cummings. "We knew if we kept at it we weren't going to miss shots all night. ... You can't say enough about what they did tonight and what they've done all season."[[In-content Ad]]